Elevated railway



(No Model.)

. J. B. MAHANA.

ELEVATED RAILWAY. No. 461,764. Patented Oct. 20, 1891.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFF-ICE.

JOHN B. MAHANA, OF FREEIVATER, OREGQN.

ELEVATED RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 461,764, dated October 20, 1891. Application filed January 24, 1891. Serial No. 378,965. (No model.) i

.To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN B. MAHANA, of Freewater, in the county of Umatilla and State of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Elevated Railways, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates to single-rail railways designed to be built across country or through streets, and to be used for all ordinary traffic.

Its object is to improve the construction of such railways, to dispense with any grading of the ground over which it is built, and to enable the necessary curves to be made without subjecting any part of the structure to undue strain.

To these ends my invention consists in the several details of construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter fully set forth, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figurelis a side elevation of my improved railway with one carriage, partly broken away, thereon. Fig. 2 isa section taken on the line 00 w of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a top View of the rail-bed, the rail being removed. Fig. 4 is aview of the yoke-clamp on an enlarged scale. Fig. 5 is an elevation of my improved trestle on an enlarged scale. Fig. 6 is a plan, and Fig. 7 a vertical section, of the rail-bed and the rail secured thereto.

Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in the respective figures.

A represents the ground over which the railway is built.

13 is the base-support of the trestle, and C C are inclined posts. The base B-is notched out near each end to form recesses b for the reception of the lower ends of the inclined posts 0. The upper ends of the posts are notched out, as shown at c, to form a rectangular space for the reception of a yokeclamp D. This yoke-clamp, Fig. 4, is made of malleable iron or steel, and consists of a plate having two of its opposite sides divided angle thereto. The upper ends of the posts 0 O are also provided with recesses a, leading from the lower corners of the space a, so as to form obtuse angles with the bottom of said space. do not abut against each other, and when the clamp-yoke D is fitted in the space 0 the sections d will enter the recesses c, and weight applied to the yoke D will draw the upper ends of the posts toward each other, and the greater the weight the more tightly will the posts clamp the yoke D and the rail-bed contained therein.

. E is a cross-piece bolted to the posts 0 0, its ends extending a short distance beyond them. The ends of the cross-piece E are notched out, as shown at e, to forma support for the stringers F, which extend along each side of the trestles. In practice, supposing the base B to have a minimum length of ten feet, trestles ranging in height from threeto ten feet can be supported thereon; .but in all fore be apparent that in the higher trestles; the ends of the cross-pieces Ewillextendg much farther beyond the posts 0 than in the lower ones. (See Figs. 2 and 5.) When" it becomes necessary to use trestles exceeding ten feet in height the base must be lengthened but it is not proposed to use any trestle constructed in accordance with my invention exceeding sixteen feet in height. 'When necessity requires the rail to' have a height greater than sixteen feet above the ground, any suitable frame-work may be built up the requisite height and my improved trestles placed upon it.

G represents the rail-bed, which rests in the yoke-clamp D. This rail-bed consists, preferably, of three series of timbers g g 9 parallel to each other and resting on their edges in the clamps D. More than three series may be used, and itmust be understood thatI do not confine myself to that number. I propose to use timbers fourteen inches wide and about three and a half inches thick, so that the road-bed will be about fourteen inches by ten. I do The upper ends of the posts 0- not, however, restrict myself to these dimen sions. The timbers g are of such length as to make a joint at every third clamp and trestle, and are so arranged that a joint in one or other of the series of parallel timbers is made at each trestle, but no two series have joints on the same trestle. By making the rail-bed in this manner it can be deflected to accommodate curvature in the track, which would not be possible if the rail-bed were a solid timber of the same dimensions. By breaking the joints no excessive lateral strain will be brought to bear on either of the trestles.

H is the rail having a wide flange, in which elongated holes 7b are cut. A wide flanged rail is necessary with my particular form of rail-bed, in order that the spikes may be driven in the two outer series of timbers g, and thus hold the three series of timbers firmly together. The weight on the rail will also be more evenly distributed over the full width of the rail-bed.

I represents a car supported by trucks J, adapted to run on the railway just described.

K K are centrally-grooved vertical wheels arranged one before the other in suitable bearings on the truck and adapted to run on the rail II. These vertical wheels K K support the trucks J, and as the trucks support the car all the weight of thecar and trucks is carried by the said wheels. A strong iron frame L is suspended from the lower side of the truck, the two being secured together by a heavy king-bolt j. This frameL extends saddlewise on each side of the rail H, and the car-body is supported by a spring connection between it and the frame, which connection, however, forms no part of this present invention. On either side of the rail H the frame L carries an inclined wheel M, adapted to come in contact with the stringers F to keep the car in an upright position. These wheels M' do not in any manner sustain the weight of the car as long as it remains in a perpendicularposi-tion, and a play of one inch on each side is allowed between the wheels M and the stringers F.

N N are horizontal wheels suitably journaled in the frame L, one on each side of the tread of the rail H. These wheels have about a quarter of an inch playon either side of the rail H, and will not touch the rail when the car is perpendicular. Their function is to take the strain off the bearings of the wheels K when the car sways in either direction. They are also each provided with a flange n, which extends under the tread of the rail H and aids in preventing the wheels K from jumping the track.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a railway can be built without grading the ground over which it runs, as the height of the trestles can be adapted to the uneven nature of the ground and a level rail-bed thus formed. It is also apparent that the railway can be given the necessary curvature without bringing excessive strain on any portion of the structure.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. In a single-rail elevated railway, atrestle having a base-support and two inclined posts sustained by said base, their upper ends approaching but not touching each other, combined with a yoke-clamp uniting said upper ends and a rail-bed resting in said clamp, substan tially as specified.

2. In a sin glerail elevated railway, atrestle having a base-support and two inclined posts sustained by said base, their upper ends approaching but not touching each other, and being notched out to form a rectangular space, a recess being also formed in each post obliquely to the bottom of the said space, combined with a yoke-clamp adapted to fit in said space and having projections fitted to enter the oblique recesses, and a rail-bed resting in said clamp, substantially as specified.

3. A yoke-clamp having two of its opposite sides each divided into three sections, two of said sections on each side being bent upwardly substantially at a right angle to the base of the clamp, and one section on each side bent downwardly at an obtuse angle to the base, as and for the purpose specified.

4.. In a single-rail elevated railway,aserics of trestlcs, each having two inclined posts, a yoke-clamp uniting the upper ends of said posts and a cross-piece bolted to said posts, its ends being notched and extending beyond the posts, combined with a rail-bed resting in said clamps, rails fastened to the rail-bed, and stringers extending on either side of the trestles and supported by the notched ends of the cross-pieces, all of said cross-pieces being at a uniform distance below the rail-bed, substantially as specified. I

5. A series of trestles, each having a yokeclamp at its upper end for the reception of the rail-bed, combined with a rail-bed formed of several parallel series of timbers resting in said clamps, and so arranged that joints will be broken and only one series will have a joint on any trestle, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

6. A rail-bed formed of several parallel series of timbers, combined with arail having a flange wide enough to extend onto the outer series of timbers on each side of the rail-bed, said flange having elongated holes through IIO which the spikes are driven into said outer said bearing-rail, two horizontal wheels adaptsecuring the heads of the trestles, and a rail- 10 ed to travel on each side of the tread of the stringer embraced by said yoke-clamps, subrai1,.and two inclined wheels adapted to enstantially as set forth.

gage the stringers when the car leaves a perpendicular position, substantially as specified. 8. In a single-track roadway, a series of trestles having heights adapted to inequalities of surface of the ground over which the roadway passes, combined with yoke-clamps In testimony whereof I hereto set my hand and seal.

JOHN B. MAI-IANA. LL. s.] Witnesses:

EDWIN CRUSE, E. T. WHITE. 

